Chelsea have matched the release clause in Demba Ba’s contract at Newcastle, for him to become Blues boss Rafael Benitez first signing in the January Transfer window.

The fee is believed to be in the region of £7million, and with Ba keen to speak to other clubs if the clause is met, the Senegalese decided to put pen to paper on a three and a half year deal at Stamford Bridge.

Ba’s career catipulted when at German outfit Hoffenheim, scoring 37 goals in 97 appearances, before a move to London rivals West Ham gave him recognition in the English top flight.

The powerful striker scored an impressive 7 goals in 12 games for the Hammers, but it could not prevent them from being relegated to the Championship, and during the summer of 2011, he moved to Newcastle on a free transfer.

Ba had a very impressive stint on Tyneside, scoring 29 goals in 54 appearances for the St.James Park outfit, and forming a deadly partnership with fellow Senegalese striker Papiss Demba Cisse.

When it was aware Ba was becoming unsettled in the North East, and there was an affordable release clause in his contract, many top flight clubs were monitoring his situation, including Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal.

However, it was Chelsea that captured the talented centre forward, and with Senegal not participating in the African Cup of Nations, and Fernando Torres looking much more like his old self, this could well be the striking partnership of the season.

Despite the 7-0 hammering from Hyde last Saturday, Woking bounced back in tremendous fashion as they took their revenge on Lincoln City at Sincil Bank with a fairly comfortable 2-0 win.

The Cards, who recorded only their second clean sheet of the season and registering their third away win of the season, took an early lead with a penalty in which Kevin calmly converted after a foul on Woking wide man, Brett Williams.

The Imps rarely tested keeper Aaron Howe, as a tactical change from last week’s mauling of The Cards, saw Garry Hill’s men convert to a five man midfield, with Kevin Betsy and top scorer, Bradley Bubb operating on both wings.

Bubb could have doubled Woking’s lead in quick succession when midfield linchpin, Billy Knott, who was signed from Premier League outfit Sunderland after a couple of loan spells with the club, fed Bubb whose fierce drive hot the side netting.

Lincoln’s best chance in the first half fell to Scott Garner, whose header was expertly tipped over the bar by Howe.

On the hour mark, Lee Sawyer’s powerful drive deflected off two Lincoln defenders, in which Bubb was the quickest to react and finish well to double the Cards’ lead.

Immediately after the goal, Knott almost trebled the lead when his curling effort inside the area was clawed away by Imps keeper Paul Farman who was at full stretch.

It was plain sailing for Woking in the final 15 minutes, and came away from Sincil Bank with maximum points, and are now 4 points clear of safety in a congested bottom half of the Blue Square Bet Premier League table.

The Premier League is one of, if not the most, prestigious and powerful league in the world. Most of Europe’s best players say that in some point in their career, they would love to play on English soil. The high intensity of matches, the controversy, and the star studded quality of teams and players is what most players in the world can only dream about. However, from my perspective, this is only seen on British teritory. When it comes to European football such as the Europa League and especially the Champions League, the so called quality of the English teams, seems to be deminished.

The likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City have all shown how they perform in the Premier League, and what the standard should be, however, when it comes to competing with the European elite, English teams tend to struggle. Recently, Chelsea travelled to the Ukranian city of Donestk, Shakhtar dominiated possesion and ultimately won the game. Manchester United played Portugese outfit Braga and narrowly won 3-2.

With the European contingent vastly progressing in the quality of players, players development, and increasing the intensity of games, is the Barclays Premier League becoming easier to play in, or is playing in Europe disturbing the domestic season ?